09/25/2016

Media - Stop Citing Our Age on Routine Basis

There was a time when media, such as the local newspaper, would automatically cite the race of those covered.

Typical was "John Abraham, a black male, was arrested in the Journal Square area, Jersey City, New Jersey, for public intoxication." That was routine in my hometown paper, the Jersey Journal.

Eventually that was stopped.

Currently, just as pernicious is the citing of age, without any specific reason.

For example, coverage of Jane Pauley's new job as "Sunday Morning" anchor notes her age: 65. How intrusive and unnecessary. Also, since there is age bias in America, from the get-go, it could work against her.

Of course, there might be reason to mention age. An athlete has a fatal heart attack when she is 27. A minor is lost in the woods. An advocacy group is campaigning against the eviction in San Francisco of a couple, ages 87 and 89.

Aside from that, we who make the news should be free from the burden of being positioned and packaged in terms of our age.